Page 61 of Spotlight
“I’m living on takeout. My teammate brought in these coffee cake muffins his wife made, and I swear to God I had dirty dreams about her for a week.” His grin is all boyish mischief. “Don’t tell JT.”
“Your secret is safe with me, Hotshot.”
We pick at the food, leaving most of it uneaten. It really is bad, and I feel like my standards are low. Chicken nuggets and Goldfish crackers make up a large part of my daily diet.
“Want to take another spin?” Flynn asks after we throw away our trash. More people have trickled into the skating rink. Teenagers, families, and other couples.
“Sure.”
Flynn holds one hand out to me, but with his other, he reaches into the front pocket of his jeans. I left my phone in my purse since my dress doesn’t have pockets and it’s been a nice reprieve from all adult responsibilities.
“Sorry. No one ever calls me,” he says as he laces his fingers through mine absently and stares at his screen. “It’s Sabrina.”
My pulse races with alarm. Ever since Greer was born, I’ve known a new kind of panic when someone calls me while they’re watching her. My mind immediately goes to all the worst-case scenarios before I can stop it.
“Answer it,” I say at the same time he puts the phone to his ear and says, “Hey, Sabrina.”
My throat is thick, and my stomach ties itself into knots as I watch Flynn’s usual playful expression twist into something like concern.
“Got it. We’ll head out now.” His brown eyes meet mine and his thumb glides over my knuckles reassuringly. “I’m going to hand you to Olivia so you can tell her, okay?”
I grab his phone the instant he drops it from his ear.
“Sabrina,” I say in a rush. “What’s wrong?”
“Greer is okay,” she says immediately. “She started coughing at the studio, but I didn’t think anything of it. Then when we got to your apartment, she complained her throat hurt. I just checked her temperature, and she has a fever. I’m so sorry. I should have checked sooner.”
“A few of her classmates have been out sick recently,” I admit. I thought we’d been lucky to avoid it. Guess not.
“Do you want me to give her meds or wait until you get here?” she asks.
In the background I hear Greer cough and my heart aches.
“No, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay,” Sabrina says. “I’ll just give her cuddles then.”
“I hope you don’t get it too,” I say, feeling guilt wash over me. It’s one thing if Greer gets me sick, but I feel terrible that she might have infected my best friend and everyone else she was around at the studio today.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“Okay. See you in a few.” I hand the phone back to Flynn.
“Poor kid,” he says as we skate to the lockers. “And poor, Mom. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I just feel terrible for not being there when she needed me.”
Silently, he nods, and we change our shoes quickly then head out of the skating rink. It isn’t far from my apartment, but every mile feels like it takes an eternity.
Flynn waits until we’re close to speak again. “It’s good for kids to have a lot of people they can depend on in tough times.”
“Yeah,” I say, hearing him but the words not really sinking in.
“Greer trusts Sabrina and Archer. And more than that, she knows you trust them. While I’m sure she wishes you were there right now, she isn’t blaming you. So don’t blame yourself either, okay?”
I glance over at him. One hand on the steering wheel, dark eyes darting my way and back to the road. I don’t know how he knew I was sitting over here feeling terrible for being out on a date having fun while my daughter is home sick, but his words help more than he could know. They don’t completely wash away the guilt, but it at least makes me aware that it isn’t rooted in reality.
“Thank you.”
